


gentle are the arms that hold you

by byunderella



Series: for daquad-love, trin [3]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Surprise Visits, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, seriously i get really disgustingly sappy at the end you've been warned, who doesnt love soft 2park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-22 07:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13162479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byunderella/pseuds/byunderella
Summary: Maybe this Christmas doesn't have to be about the food or the presents. Maybe it just has to be about Jihoon and Woojin, living in the space of them.





	gentle are the arms that hold you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daquad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daquad/gifts).



> this is totally late and not even the only xmas themed drabble i have planned whoops lmao
> 
> anyways this is the third of twelve daquad christmas drabbles!
> 
> for [faith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimdonghan)

 

 

 

 

It’s the first Christmas he’s spending alone.

 

He says it’s okay. His family had wanted to start their vacation early but were faced with having to delay it for the sake of Jihoon because of his exams. But Jihoon had said that he’d be fine staying back in Korea for holidays; it was just one Christmas after all, he could spend it with his friends. And it’s not often that his family got to see their cousins living in Chicago. He didn’t want to be an impediment to anyone else’s break; he knows how much his little brother missed his cousins so he gave them a tight-lipped smile and insisted that they should go without him.

 

But he kind of regrets it because now he’s stuck in his single room dorm, in the middle of a heavy snowfall and none of friends are here. Jinyoung and Daehwi had gone down to Jinyoung’s hometown for the holidays, and Jihoon politely refused when they offered for him to come with them, because he knows it’s the first Christmas Jinyoung is taking Daehwi home as his official boyfriend, and he hadn’t really enjoyed the idea of being a third-wheel, awkwardly having to interact with Jinyoung’s relatives.

 

He thought that he’d at least have Woojin, but as fate would have it, his boyfriend is stuck in Busan and won’t be able to come up to Seoul for Christmas. So here he is, alone at school—save for a few other students that he doesn’t even know anyways—with nothing to do and no one to spend the stupid holiday with and he’s totally _not_ sulking.

 

His room isn’t even decorated in the slightest—no indication of Christmas anywhere. Maybe if he distracted himself enough it would just feel like any other day, except that there are pictures of everyone and their families all over social media and now he can’t even scroll through twitter without getting upset.

 

Jihoon doesn’t want to be mad at Woojin for not being able to be with him for Christmas—he’s been staying at the Busan campus for the past few months for a competition, and as much as he doesn’t like to admit it in front of his boyfriend, he misses seeing his stupid face every day. And now he’s going to have to wait another month to see him because of the stupid snow.

 

Jihoon decides he hates winter.

 

Outside of his room he hears laughing, yelling and quick footsteps running down the hall. _Of course_ the people staying in the dorms for the holidays had to be the rowdy ones. He sighs, attempting to crank up his non-seasonal music (he didn’t want to be reminded of mistletoes he wouldn’t have anyone to stand underneath with) to drown out the loudness outside.

 

He hears a knocking at his door, and at first he thinks that it's one of the upperclassmen either a) trying to play a prank on him or b) trying to ask him if he wants to join them because they saw that his room light was on. He’s not fond of either options so he leaves it alone. But then it happens a few more times that whoever it was had eventually developed a rhythm and is now knocking at his door to the tune of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Jihoon is ready to whack this nuisance in the face with a stocking full of coal.

 

“I’m not interested—“ He starts as he’s opening the door but when he comes face to face with the person on the other side with a familiar snaggletooth he freezes.

 

“Are you breaking up with me?” Woojin pouts, clutching at his heart and leaning against the frame of his door dramatically.

 

Jihoon breaks into a smile and more or less hurls himself into the boy, jumping up and throwing his arms around him as Woojin picks him up into a hug, “Oh my God, you’re here!” Woojin chuckles, sweeping away the hair falling over Jihoon’s eyes when they pull back. “Wait, how are you here? You told me last night that’d you’d be stuck in Busan.”

 

“Well, I _was_ supposed to be there, but I got a tip off from Jinyoung this morning that you were going to be here alone. And me being the great boyfriend I am, have come to your rescue!” Woojin explains proudly, ignoring the punch that Jihoon delivers to his chest.

 

“I can’t believe you.” Jihoon pouts, closing the door behind him as Woojin saunters into the familiar room, making himself at home on Jihoon’s bed. “How could you not tell me?”

 

“That’s not how surprises work, babe.”

 

Jihoon flushes slightly at the pet name; it’s not like it’s the first time he’s heard it, they’ve been dating for almost two years already, been best friends for five. But it’s been a little under a year since he’s seen Woojin, so tangible with his warm, snaggletooth self in his stupidly cute Christmas sweater and he’s missed him so much. He’s missed the feeling of being safe in Woojin’s strong arms, misses all of his tender kisses and if Woojin doesn’t initiate anything the second he reaches his bed then he’s going to be a little upset.

 

But he soon learns (though really, he’s always known) that Woojin always gives him whatever he wants without having to be asked, because he’s immediately pulling Jihoon in by the waist, smiling up at him softly that Jihoon wants nothing more than to keep him here forever, with him. He puckers his lips once, his deep, gentle voice beckoning him, “Come here.”

 

And usually, Jihoon wouldn’t give in without a little bit of teasing, but he’s gone almost six months without his boyfriend, so he finds his patience degenerating with every second he’s looking at Woojin as he’s leaning in, quickly capturing Woojin’s lips with his. Woojin hums satisfyingly, pulling Jihoon further down until they’re falling onto the bed, with Jihoon on top of him.

 

“I missed you.” Woojin mumbles against his lips.

 

 Jihoon smiles into the kiss, pecking him a few more times more muttering, “Of course you did.”

 

Woojin bites down on his bottom lip with that, and even though it’s supposed to be seen as some sort of punishment for ruining the touching moment, they both know that Jihoon _likes_ it when he does that. So really, no one’s complaining, especially not Jihoon. “Wouldn’t kill you to say it back.”

 

Jihoon hums in agreement, “Yeah. But it would kill _you_ and I’ve decided to be nice this Christmas.”

Woojin pulls away, putting his hands on either side of Jihoon’s face and squishes his cheeks together, “Aw, I’m so lucky to having such a considerate boyfriend.”

 

Jihoon pouts, “Hey, I thought we decided not to highlight my cheeks.”

 

Woojin ignores him, fingers moving to pinch at them, “But I love your cheeks. They’re not allowed to get any slimmer.”

 

Jihoon waves a dismissive hand, “Well, I’m glad you’re here, but there’s not much to do in my room. I think I’ve exhausted every single movie to exist since the break started and I’ve grown tired of watching.”

 

Woojin glances around the room inquisitively. It’s not like there’s much to look at—it’s a small, cramped single room with an unfortunate lack of entertainment. He feels a little bad now because he knows that Woojin probably would have had a better time if he was in Busan with his family for the holidays. And it’s not like Jihoon can bring him to his family because they aren’t even in the country. Woojin gets up from the bed, “Let’s go up to the lounge, it should be open, right?”

 

Jihoon nods, “Yeah. I just hope there’s no one else in there right now. I’m not really up for seeing anyone else.”

 

Woojin throws him a look over his shoulder, “I’m the only one you need, right?”

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes, “I mean, I guess you’re tolerable.”

 

Woojin snorts, walking to the small refrigerator to grab two water bottles and tossing one to him. “Right. And that’s why you launched yourself at me as soon as you saw me, because I’m _tolerable_.”

 

“Keep talking and you’re sleeping in a bed of snow tonight.”

 

 

 

+

 

 

To Jihoon’s relief, they end up being the only ones in the dorm lounge when they get there. It’s a pretty cozy place—Jihoon hasn’t spent a substantial amount of time here in all of his three years at the university despite it being in the same building he lives in, save for the few times that Woojin, Jinyoung and Daehwi dragged him with them to play a game of pool despite all of their skills being horribly impotent. In fact, Jihoon is ninety-nine percent sure that they only played so that the pre-dating Jinyoung could assist Daehwi with the game as an excuse to have his arms around the youngest. The room is decorated as per the holiday, with red and green tinsels lining the top perimeter of the wall, a small Christmas tree placed atop the side table near the couches. It’s clear that someone has been here earlier, if the mountain of garbage on one of the booth tables is any indication. Jihoon likes to think that his impeccable timing has always been one of his strong suits, and the fact that they’re able to avoid people even though he’s sure there are plenty students stuck in the dorms for the holidays only further supports it.

 

They spend a length of their night playing the various forms of entertainment that the room had to offer, from foosball (“That’s not where you’re supposed to be scoring Woojin, that’s your own goal.” “What if I’m just scoring on my own goal for you?” “You’re not generous you’re just dumb.”) to air hockey (“You cheated!” Jihoon shouts as Woojin scores a goal even after Jihoon called for a small time out to take his cardigan off. “That’s ridiculous, Jihoon. Why would I date a hockey puck?” “I fucking hate you.”) to Call of Duty at the console station (“This isn't a very festive game to play on Christmas.” “We’ve always been an unorthodox couple.” “That would be true if we were actually a _couple_.” “Would you get over the air hockey thing already?” “Never.”).

 

They take it as their cue to leave when they see a small group of students file into the lounge, politely declining when they ask them if they want to join them in a game of beer pong. Half because it’s a little weird drinking with strangers and half because he knows how rowdy Woojin gets when he’s drunk, even more so than how he usually is and it’s every kind of ridiculous and Jihoon doesn’t want to deal with a drunk Woojin.

 

Their dinner is a lot lackluster than he’s used to—every Christmas he’s had so far had consisted of a table full of food, a whole feast with something delicious wafting throughout the house. He remembers always watching as his mother took out her numerous trays of food out of the oven and set them up on the dining table, and how he would always sneak some food into his room before his guest had arrived. It’s a lot different this year as he and Woojin are sitting at his small table, with their instant ramen cups and his laptop propped up across from them as they catch the finale of a drama they had been watching online together.

 

After dinner, they find themselves sprawled about on Jihoon’s bed, Woojin lying with his head falling over the edge while Jihoon’s head is rested on his chest, rising and falling slowly with his breaths. They lie in silence for a while, able to quietly appreciate each other’s presence with the unspoken sentiment floating through the air above them. Jihoon hums softly to the Christmas song playing (Woojin had finally managed to convince him to put on his holiday playlist) as he feels Woojin’s fingers playing with his hair.

 

Perhaps it’s the fact that Woojin had changed his fate of being alone this Christmas with his surprise visit that triggers it, but soon Jihoon is curled up under his blanket, huddled at the corner of his bed against the wall as he hears fireworks going off outside as it nears midnight. He’s always hated the sound of fireworks, ever since he was a kid, every time there was a celebration that called for the loud sounds, he’s always stayed like this at the corner of his bed with his ears covered by his blankets as best as he can to drown out the frightful noise. He can hear the voices of the students who are setting off the fireworks, cheering and laughing outside but he doesn’t see why it’s anything to be happy about, especially when he feels something welling up at the rims of his eyes and his surroundings start to get bleary.

 

He feels Woojin get off of the bed, and then he’s watching as the blanket his using to cover himself up with slips out of his grasp. He screeches, attempting to grab at it but Woojin is crawling towards him and taking his face in his hands, fingers caressing his cheeks as he whispers soft shushes. Jihoon is still shaking, hands coming up to cover his ears as he tries to scrunch further into himself. Woojin pulls away again, allowing Jihoon to let his head fall to his knees, curling up into a ball.

 

“Hey, let’s build a fort.” He hears Woojin say enthusiastically.

 

Jihoon sniffles, wiping his tears away, “You’re dumb, I’m just gonna stay in bed and cry.”

 

Woojin clacks his tongue, “Bitch, get your ass up we’re building this goddamn pillow fort.” Jihoon lifts his head up slightly as he watches Woojin take the pillows from his bed and place them on the floor atop of the blanket he had stolen from him. “Do you have Jinyoung and Daehwi’s room key?”

 

Jihoon nods, though still confused. He points to the drawer beside his bed, where Daehwi had left his room key for safe keeping. “Why—“

 

“Let’s go, we’re gonna raid their room of their pillows.”

 

After a few sounds of protesting and Woojin’s persuading, Jihoon finds himself being dragged off of his bed and out of his room. His hands are still cupped over his ears as Woojin pulls him across the hall into Jinyoung and Daehwi’s room. Woojin makes a beeline towards their bed and starts pilling their pillows on top of Jihoon’s cradling arms. When Woojin is hastily flinging Daehwi’s blanket from off of his bed, Jihoon barely has time to warn him before he’s knocking over one of Daehwi’s fake plants on top of his night stand. The fake succulent is sent flying onto the floor, and the pot that was holding it shatters into pieces across the floor. “Oh shit.”

 

“Way to fucking go, you clumsy idiot.”

 

“No one saw that.” Woojin says in feigned cluelessness, not even bothering to clean up the mess he made as he’s grabbing up the rest of the blankets and pushing Jihoon out of the room. Soon, they’re back in Jihoon’s room and Jihoon is curled up in the corner of his bed again as he watches as Woojin attempts to transform the empty space in his room into a pillow fort. After they had come back with Jinyoung and Daehwi’s pillows and blankets, Woojin had taken a nother trip back to their room and Jihoon had watched as Woojin hauled their kitchen chairs into his room. “What the fuck.”

 

Woojin places two chairs on one side of the room, slightly spread apart, and then moves Jihoon’s kitchen chairs to mirror them. After he has the backbone of the fort set up, he’s lifting the blankets up into the air, positioning them so that all four chairs are covered. And then he’s moving Jihoon’s bean bag underneath the sheets of blankets and throwing the rest of the pillows in there with it. When he’s finished he emerges from out of the fort and gestures to the entrance. “Welcome to Fort Woojin! Population Park A and Park B.”

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes but still cracks a small smile, feeling the dry tears on his cheeks but the watering in his eyes has lessened. Woojin holds a hand out for him and he takes it, following his boyfriend into his fort that he even had time to line the inside with Jihoon’s stringy white lights. If Jihoon is being honest, it’s a lot nicer than he expected it to be. It’s small, as to be expected with the size of his room. They’re squished up against each other in the cramped fort as he climbs into Woojin’s lap, sitting propped up against the bean bag and nuzzles into the younger’s chest and God, he hates him but he loves him so much. “You’re stupid.” He mumbles into the fabric of Woojin’s sweater, the tears soon coming back, but it’s no longer from the fireworks.

 

“Do you like it?”

 

“I love it.” Jihoon says softly, wrapping his arms tightly around Woojin’s torso as Woojin tightens his hold around him. A particularly loud firework goes off and Jihoon jumps a little, but Woojin calms him down, rubbing circular motions on his back as he rocks them side to side.

 

“You want me to sing you a song?”

 

“I don’t think anyone wants that.” Jihoon mutters truthfully, smiling when Woojin chuckles.  

 

And of course, Woojin does it anyways, singing very off-key to Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. He’s not even sure if these are the right lyrics and he’s pretty sure this isn’t even English, or _any_ language for that matter but he’s trying so hard and he’s trying for _him_ and it makes Jihoon feel extremely warm inside.

 

He misses the small moments like this, rather than big, planned outings. Not that he doesn’t appreciate Woojin’s presence in everything they do, but he thinks that the times that they’re just with each other, lazing around in each other’s embrace and nothing has to be said because they already know everything they want to say to each other, has to be one of his favorite things. Just being with Woojin is as natural as breathing—he’s the air that fills his lungs with so much care and assurance that it makes bearing the weight of the world so much easier. Jihoon doesn’t need fancy dinners or amusement parks to know that he loves Woojin.

 

He looks up at Woojin, taking in every angle, every feature of his face. From the lift of the corners of his eyes, to the slope of his nose, to the outlines of his lips, to the angle of his jaw. All of him is beautiful and all of him is _his_. Woojin meets his eyes with his own, and there’s that familiar gleam in his eyes that tells him everything, says so much more things than either of them could ever put into words. Jihoon searches the sea of hickory, grounding him like an anchor and keeping his heart steadfast despite the many ways he throws his emotions into an uncontrollable spiral of everything from frustration to desire to yearning to absolute devotion. _I_ _love you so much, I hope you know that._

He knows he doesn’t actually say it out loud, but Woojin can read him like he’s his favorite book that’s he’s memorized all of the lines to, “I know.” Woojin reaches out, tenderly brushing the hair out of his eyes, finger running down the side of his face and his hand comes to rest against his cheek, pulling him closer until their lips meet. Jihoon can feel the goosebumps breaking out over his skin as his eyes flutter shut at the delicate bringing together of their lips. It’s the kind of delight that comes with every moment with Woojin, the kind that never gets old, no matter how many times they do this. Woojin kisses him with all of the fondness in the world, every kiss is so filled with affection that jihoon doesn’t even have to think about doubting _them_ for a second.

 

They pull away after a while, and Jihoon leans into the crook of Woojin’s neck, humming softly, “Thank you for coming.”

 

Woojin presses a kiss to his forehead, “Of course.”

 

Maybe this Christmas doesn’t have to be about the food or the presents or the decorations. Maybe it just has to be about Jihoon and Woojin, living in the space of _them_ , forgetting that time exists when all they have to worry about is each other. He can find the holiday spirit in the feathered arms that wrap around him as the winter wind holds its breath, swallowing them in a serene silence in a moment that belongs to them. Christmas Eve will find him cloaked in the mellow lullabies that lull him to sleep, holding tight to him the only gift he needs.

 

 

 

Jihoon decides he might like winter after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter [@holywoojin](https://twitter.com/holywoojin) for fic updates and progress threads and leave questions/requests in my [cc!](https://curiouscat.me/holywoojin)


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